North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Hoping to Sink Cal's Shipp in NCAA Tourney
3/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 19, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Oklahoma City-When asked who would be responsible for guarding California forward Joe Shipp in Thursday's first round NCAA Tournament game against the Bears, NC State's Clifford Crawford and Julius Hodge were non-committal. But regardless of who draws the defensive assignment, the 6-5, 220 pound Shipp will present a very testy challenge. With his ability to score both inside and out, the senior from Los Angeles led the offensive minded PAC-10 Conference in scoring with an average of 20.3 points per game. The 9th seeded Wolfpack (18-12) and No. 8 Bears (21-8) are set to meet at 12:25 Eastern time Thursday at the Ford Center. Airtime on the Wolfpack Radio Network is noon.
"I think Julius is going to get the brunt of the match-up," Crawford, a 6-3 senior guard, said with a hint of a giggle. "Looking at him on film, he's a very big guy and quick for his size. He can really shoot for a guy playing the 3-position. Julius is going to have his hands full and I think I'm going to get a little bit of that match-up. He's the leading scorer in the PAC-10 and he's a great player."
Shooting 52 percent from the floor and 36 percent from 3-point range, Shipp tallied three 30-point games this season and scored better than 20 on 13 different occasions. Teams that have tried to put smaller, quicker players on him have been burned in the post. Against larger more physical players, Shipp has used his perimeter shooting and driving skills to put points on the board. In other words, there are no easy answers.
"Joe has always been a tough match-up for everybody this year," said California coach Ben Braun. "If you put a guard on him he's a strong player. If you put a bigger guy on him he's got some quickness and agility to either step out and knock down 3s or go around. Joe's a pretty smart player. He'll try to do what he has to do to help our team, and no matter who's on him we'll make some adjustments and he'll make some adjustments. That's why he's averaged 20-plus and why he's been in double figures every game this year."
Said Shipp: "I'm expecting Crawford to guard me. I'm going to try to take advantage of him size wise and strength wise. I'll look to take advantage of the match-up by playing a strong, physical game."
But Cal's arsenal of weapons doesn't stop with Shipp. Amit Tamir (15.7 ppg.), a 6-11 native of Israel, is also a versatile player with inside-outside skills. Senior guard Brian Wethers, now healthy after being slowed by a sore achilles last week, provides both scoring (14.9 ppg.) and terrific defense.
And although they finished with an impressive 13-5 record in conference play, the Bears landed a seed in the tournament that was lower than some may have expected. Of course, it didn't help that they dropped three of their last five games, including a 79-62 loss to USC in the conference tournament.
"I never try to figure that out," Braun said. "It's kind of complicated just to get your team to play its best. You look at the season and you look around the country and there's going to be a couple of seeds that maybe you thought would be higher and some lower. You go on and you play. We felt like we had a pretty solid season. We challenged for the PAC-10 title right down to the end of the year. That was pretty important for us to establish ourselves. Now you've got to do it all over again and if you're a 8 seed vs. a 9 seed, I don't know that it makes a big difference."
And while Cal is making its third straight appearance in the 'Big Dance,' the Wolfpack is back for a second straight season following an 11-year absence. Just like 12 months ago, NC State seems to be playing its best basketball at just the right time. At last week's ACC Tournament in Greensboro, the Pack played its way into the NCAAs by posting clutch wins over Georgia Tech and top seed Wake Forest before narrowly losing to Duke in the championship game.
"I think the ACC Tournament was big for us because you guys (the media) were putting a lot of pressure on us about the NCAA Tournament," Crawford said. "I think we came in knowing that we had to win games and that's what we did. Right now we're on an ultimate high from that. We're just trying get into this NCAA Tournament and win as many games as possible."
Through most of the season, NC State has been getting fairly consistent production from Hodge, Crawford and versatile forward Marcus Melvin. But in recent weeks, 6-9 center Josh Powell has been giving the Wolfpack a monstrous inside presence that had been missing. At the ACC Tournament, Powell averaged 20 points and seven rebounds per contest, while shooting 65.5 percent (21-32) from the floor. Just as importantly, his effectiveness down low has made NC State a much more formidable offensive team. The Wolfpack has shot 50 percent or better in five of its last nine games.
"Josh's improvement has been crucial for our team," Sendek said. "He has not only improved his own personal game, but he has improved the play of everyone around him. He learns well and has enhanced himself physically. His strength has paid dividends to his improvement. He has stayed the course and moved in the right direction."
Thursday's unlikely match-up is between a pair of teams that have never met before. It will also be a clash of contrasting styles and conferences that are separated by better than 2,000 miles. And it will happen right smack in the middle of the country.
"I think it's going to be fun," said Cal's Wethers. "I'm actually looking forward to playing an ACC team. Just in scouting them, I like how they play. They get out and run, they're an emotional team. Personally, that's the type of stuff I feed off of. I'm looking forward to playing against them."
The Wolfpack Radio Network will hit the airwaves live from Oklahoma City at 12-noon eastern time on Thursday.
